Time To Crack Down On Methane ‘Ultra-Emitters’. Satellite technology now enables us to spot these polluters. We have the technology to do something about it.
A growing constellation of methane-detecting satellites is giving researchers new and disturbing insights into “super emitters” around the globe — from pipelines in Russia to North America’s oil fields.
“These are really, really big events. These are the kinds of things that should just never be happening,” said Steven Hamburg, chief scientist for the Environmental Defense Fund who was not involved in the study but has long conducted research on methane, the world’s second-most-prevalent greenhouse gas behind carbon dioxide.
Hamburg said reducing such disastrous leaks, known as “super” or “ultra” emitters, amounts to “low-hanging fruit” in the quest to mitigate the worsening impacts of global warming.
Finding ways to eliminate such colossal and unnecessary leaks, whether they result from damaged pipelines or shoddy maintenance practices, the authors write, could yield economic benefits and would produce clear climate and health benefits for relatively low costs. They calculate that eradicating ultra-emitters would represent the equivalent of removing 20 million vehicles from the road for a year, and the avoided warming would prevent an estimated 1,600 deaths annually due to heat exposure.
It’s Not All Gloom And Doom On The Climate Front. Check Out These Climate Creators. These ‘influencers’ are the diametric opposite of those who have received their Herman Cain Awards.
‘Zona R Speaker Of The House Shuts Down Rethug Election-Stealing Scheme. Likely earns himself a Trumpy challenger before the week is out:
The speaker assigns all new bills to a committee for consideration before they can have full House votes, a choice that often has a great effect on a measure’s chance of success. But on Tuesday, Bowers took the unprecedented step of ordering all 12 House committees to consider the elections bill, virtually ensuring it will never reach the floor.The bill’s lead sponsor, Republican state Rep. John Fillmore, referred to the move as a “12-committee lynching” in an interview with CNN affiliate KPHO/KTVK.
“For somebody to say we have plenary authority to overthrow a vote of the people for something we think may have happened, where is it (the evidence)?’’ Bowers said of the unproven and unverified claims made by those seeking a new 2020 vote. . . .
“The point is, when we gave a fundamental right to the people, I don’t care if I win or lose, that right was theirs,’’ Bowers said. “And I’m not going to go back and kick them in the teeth.’’
This Glenn Youngkin Could Hasten Virginia’s Flip To Solid Blue. Check out his ‘snitch line’ to nark out teachers:
It’s only been a week since Gov. Glenn Youngkin launched a tip line that allows parents to report any teachers or school administrators teaching “divisive” subjects, like critical race theory, in Virginia schools. Within days, the tip line was spoofed on Saturday Night Live and flooded with fake tips. And now the governor’s office is refusing to make the complaints public.
Its reasoning? All the emails sent to this tip line are “working papers and correspondences” for Youngkin’s “personal or deliberative” use.
Meanwhile, Virginia Democrats have jumped all over Youngkin for the tip line and the denied records requests. “This is now how FOIA works,” tweeted Democratic state Sen. L. Louise Lucas. “If the Governor wants to set up a tip line to report teachers who mention Black History, he shouldn’t be hiding what he ‘finds’.”
When the Democratic Party offers up a retread corporadem like Terry McAuliffe, they lose. You won’t hear any outcry over that from the usual suspects.
‘Meta’ Suffers $230 Billion One-Day Wipeout. Why?:
The company said Apple’s iPhone privacy changes, which impact its ad-targeting and measuring, would result in a $10 billion revenue hit this year. It also said macroeconomic challenges like inflation and supply chain disruptions, are weighing on advertiser budgets.
The ‘Whitest Black Guy In The Office’. Who would award such a ‘trophy’? Why, someone from the Wilmington Police Department, of course.
Is UD Being Straight with The Joint Finance Committee? Cynics would say ‘First time for everything’. This time doesn’t appear to be the ‘first time’:
State Rep. Kim Williams, D-Newport, noted a recent article noting that diversity is up 21% from five years ago.
“When I look at the Brown and Black student data, the official UD enrollment for undergraduate students, including 2021 data going back to 2015, I can only see it going up 1.8 percent,” she said.
A 2018 Inclusive Excellence Mid-Term Report from UD said enrollment numbers amongst historically underrepresented and underserved groups from North America has increased 20% in the past five years for undergraduate students and has increased 33.5% for graduate students who identify as Black/African American.
Actual enrollment statistics however show an increase of only 3%, among all non-white students between 2014 and 2018, to total just over 32 percent non-white students. And although UD does not have any student demographic data available on their website since then, the National Center for Education Statistics said the university sat stagnant from 2019 to 2020 at approximately a 36 percent non-white population.
UD President Assanis’ response?:
“Please take my word for it, those numbers have increased dramatically.”
Uh, no.
What do you want to talk about?